General Motors Co. is giving its 24-year-old Detroit-Hamtramck final assembly plant a $336 million upgrade to prep it for production of the Chevrolet Volt extended-range hybrid car. Production begins next year, and the car goes on sale in late 2010, beginning in California before spreading to other markets.

To reduce costs, GM will transfer some equipment from other facilities and install it at the Hamtramck plant’s body shop. The company also plans to build the Volt on the Hamtramck plant’s existing assembly line, which currently makes the Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne.

Seven other GM facilities in Michigan are contributing to the Volt, bringing GM’s total in-state commitment to the program to $700 million. A new facility in Brownstown Township will assemble the Volt’s lithium-ion battery pack. The car’s 1.4-liter engine-generator will come from Flint. Camshafts and connecting rods will be shipped from Bay City, and GM’s Grand Blanc facility will supply tooling.

Assembly of Volt prototype vehicles will begin in the spring. Some 8,000 to 10,000 Volts are planned for the 2011 model year, after which production is expected to ramp up to an annual rate of 50,000 to 60,000 units.

When Panasonic Corp. completes its planned acquisition of rival Sanyo Electric Co. tomorrow, it will invest $1.1 billion into the company’s solar cell and rechargeable battery businesses after the deal is completed, Sanyo tells Automotive News. Timing and other details of the investment weren’t revealed.

Panasonic’s tender offer for Sanyo shares closes on Wednesday. The electronics specialist will then become a Panasonic subsidiary in January.

Both companies have been developing advanced batteries for hybrid/electric vehicles. AN says Sanyo will take the lead in those technologies under the combined enterprise. To this end, Panasonic plans to reduce its stake in Panasonic EV Energy Co., its battery-making joint venture with Toyota Motor Corp., to 19% from 40% currently. Toyota will increase its share in the battery business to 80.5% from 60% today.

Toyota currently sources nickel-metal-hydride batteries from Panasonic EV. The venture also is ramping up output of next-generation lithium-ion batteries. To keep pace with growing demand, it is increasing capacity of both types of batteries.

Sanyo has said it is in final negotiations to supply lithium-ion batteries to two unidentified automakers for upcoming plug-in hybrid programs. One deal is believed to be with Toyota, which has indicated it will dual-source such batteries to meet expected demand for its future plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles.

Sanyo will begin making lithium-ion batteries later this month in Japan. AN say output will go to Volkswagen’s Audi unit for 15,000 to 25,000 conventional hybrid vehicles per year. Another Sanyo plant, due to open by the end of next year, will produce batteries for the more powerful plug-in hybrids. The company says its global output of lithium-ion batteries will increase tenfold between the end of next year and 2015, with production expanding to North America, Europe and China as early as 2012.

Sanyo expects hybrids and EVs to account for 11% of worldwide sales in 2020. It aims to control 40% of the battery market for such vehicles by then.

correction

Our report yesterday about Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s RVR compact crossover contained typographical errors that indicated Mazda was involved in aspects of the vehicle’s design and development. In fact, the RVR is based on MMC’s Concept cX vehicle that was unveiled at the 2007 Tokyo auto show. Mazda was not associated with its development.

Testing and development of the Saab 9-5 wagon has continued despite the uncertainty of the brand’s future. Autocar posted pictures on its Web site of a development vehicle that was spotted in Italy last week.

General Motors Co. was close to selling Saab to a Swedish consortium led by Koenigsegg Group. But those plans fell through last month when the specialty car maker pulled out of the deal in part because arranging government-backed aid was taking too long.

China’s Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. (BAIC), which had intended to buy a stake in Koenigsegg, now may partner with Merbanco Inc., a U.S.-based investment group, on a new offer to buy Saab. But a Reuters report, which cites unidentified sources, says BAIC is interested only in some Saab assets-including tooling for the company’s current-generation 9-5 and 9-3 models. Reuters says BAIC intends to use the tooling to set up production in China and does not want to buy the Swedish company’s big assembly plant in Trollhattan. If GM agrees to such a sale, Reuters points out, it appears likely that the remainder of Saab would be liquidated. GM has said it expects to decide by the end of this month whether to sell Saab or close it.

For now, Saab is moving forward with plans to idle its Trollhattan plant for a month to retool it for the new 9-5 and the convertible 9-3. But even if a sale is completed soon, the original fall 2010 launch target for the new 9-5 likely won’t be met, Autocar notes.

Under a new long-term agreement, Delphi Automotive Systems LLC will supply components to Allison Transmission Inc. for that company’s hybrid drive system used in commercial trucks. Indianapolis-based Allison describes itself as the world’s leading supplier of hybrid propulsion systems for on-highway transit and coach vehicles and the top producer of commercial-duty automatic transmissions for on- and off-highway vehicles.

As part of General Motors, Allison developed a two-mode hybrid system for buses. The technology has since been adapted to passenger vehicles under a partnership between GM, BMW and the former DaimlerChrysler. GM sold Allison to The Carlyle Group and Onex Corp. two years ago.

Earlier this year, Allison was awarded a $62.8 million grant under the U.S. Department of Energy American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It will use the money to increase capacity to manufacture hybrid propulsion systems for the commercial truck market.

The U.K.’s famed Silverstone race track, which hosted its first Formula One race in 1948, has signed a 17-year deal with F1’s sanctioning organization to continue hosting F1 races for 17 years. Silverstone had been expected to lose rights to the British Grand Prix in 2010 to another track in Donington Park, but backers of that facility failed to raise the necessary funding.

The British Racing Drivers’ Club, which owns the Silverstone track, says the 17-year agreement will enable it to pay for extensive improvements to the facility’s pit lane and paddock required by F1. Next year’s Grand Prix will be held on July 11. The facility also will host next year’s British MotoGP motorcycle race.